


Ephemeral

by jokokekemato



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmates, daehyun-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3146414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jokokekemato/pseuds/jokokekemato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>02d.14h.43m.52s.</b>
</p><p> 
The numbers inked into his skin bled through each second – shifting, rearranging, changing. Counting down, bleeding through the days and hours and minutes and seconds with an unchanging slowness, until he will meet his soul mate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ephemeral

**02d.14h.43m.52s.**

The numbers inked into his skin bled through each second – shifting, rearranging, changing. Counting down, spilling through the days and hours and minutes and seconds with an unchanging slowness, until he will meet his soul mate.

It was standard now for everyone to have it. The mutation had appeared in a few select people at first, raising a worldwide phenomenon that had captured everyone’s attention. A timer tattooed to the inside of your wrist, magically whisking away the seconds until you found them. Whoever they were.

Daehyun often wondered who his person was. A boy or a girl? He had long since decided that he couldn’t care less about the gender and had trialed both, sharing enough kisses and embraces with those who were also sorting their sexuality out.

Sometimes he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as he constructed his soulmate. Sometimes it was a tall, young woman with long blonde hair and slanted eyes, who laughed too loud and didn’t take no for an answer. Other times, she was shorter, sported a pixie cut, played field hockey and wrote in her free time. There were males, all taller than him, some serious and thin lipped, and others bright eyed and confident.

He liked to name them, his favourite imaginary soul mates. They changed as he grew older, each new person reflecting his interests and dreams, but there was one that always stayed the same. Daehyun had constructed him in his imagination when he was 15; a man slightly taller than him, with a wide, gummy smile and a mature personality. A musician. Pretty, almost girlish hands, and a voice so deep that, when his mind took a dirty turn and he thought of the baritone growling his name, he always felt a hot flush between his legs.

His name was Yongguk.

 

**01d.03h.22m.12s.**

Are you excited? Everyone asked him. Most of the time he was and would answer all of their questions eagerly, paint out what he hoped would happen and what he would wear, what he would say. There were the few instances when anxiety gripped him, but those went as quickly as they came. Soul mates were soul mates for a reason; they were perfect in every aspect, almost as if they had been designed for their partner. Soul mates did magical things that were unexplainable by science. A young woman dying from cancer would find herself making a miraculous recovery once her timer hit 0. A man, deemed infertile, would find that his wife had become pregnant. All manners of diseases and disorders were healed, people suffering found happiness in their lives. Once a person found their soulmate, their lives got drastically better.

There was no reason that his would not.

 

**00d.16h.19m.55s.**

A big day tomorrow. His father said over dinner and he agreed. His mother recounted how they had met. She had been walking her dog, waiting for her timer to hit zero, when a cat ran by and the dog had bolted. Running after, she found a man holding the pet, who smiled at her and showed her his timer. 00d.00h.00m.00s. A happy ever after.

Remember to wear something nice. His brother laughed. He had never really believed in the soulmate thing. Most people got the day off from work or school when their time was close, but he had headed off to the construction site that he worked in as usual. He totally forgot about it, until a blind woman had fallen head first into the hole that he was surveying and he had, by some miracle that Daehyun liked to think of as fate, managed to catch her. 00d.00h.00m.00s. A happy ever after.

Are you going to take the day off? His mother fretted. It would be a big day for her youngest son – meeting his soulmate. Most only neared the day mark when they were in their early twenties. Daehyun was still in high school. He would, he said, and get ready for everything. Spend the day in the city, wandering aimlessly, go back to school the next with a soulmate by his side. Everyone did. They flaunted their love, but no one ever begrudged them because their time would come too. Everyone’s did. 00d.00h.00m.00s. A happy ever after.

 

**00d.13h.40m.02s.**

He lay in bed, blankets clutched to his chest, and envisioned the day. Wake up early. Shower really well, wash his hair with the special shampoo that he loved, remember to put cream on his hands and arms and face. Change into his favourite outfit; black skinny jeans and a red hoodie and sneakers, wallet and cellphone in his pocket. Go out downtown, wear his sleeves rolled up so that he could constantly check it. Enjoy everything. He had always wanted to meet in the forest, and there was one close by that he had never managed to completely explore.

Yongguk was there. He was stepping out from behind a tree, giving him a bunch of wild flowers with a sweet, gummy smile. Daehyun would introduce himself and Yongguk would as well, but he already knew. They would walk together, in the shaded trails of the forest, and after a few minutes, he would gain enough courage to brush their fingers together. They would talk about art and life and love and things ranging from anything to everything. The emptiness in his chest would be fulfilled. The waiting would be over. That was what a soulmate was, after all. 00d.00h.00m.00s. A happy ever after.

**00d.00h.11m.04s.**

He was almost at the forest and time is ticking down fast. The bus had taken a different route and he had gotten lost, wandering in circles until a friendly woman had pointed him in the right direction. Daehyun could have just waited, knowing that he would meet his soulmate no matter where he was, but he wanted it to be in the forest. That was the place that he had always dreamed of.

 

**00d.00h.05m.00s.**

It took a while until he can see the forest, green tips sticking out from behind building roofs, and he sped up involuntarily. He had never been to this part of the town before and, spanning in front of the tree line, was a graveyard. The gate was unlocked, grass trimmed and flowers laying at some headstones. Daehyun barely paid attention as his pace sped up from a fast walk to a jog.

 

**00d.00h.02m.38s.**

His shoelace was coming undone and he kept on tripping on it. He needed to tie it up again, but a cemetery was not the most romantic place to meet the love of his life, so he ignored it, choosing to flick his eyes from the ground to his wrist, watching the time, impatient and anxious.

 

**00d.00h.00m.34s.**

He trips. The landing is gentle, freshly upturned dirt cushioning his fall, but he is too busy pushing himself up and frantically dusting himself off to notice. The time on his wrist ticked down and he pushed himself up just in time for the counter to hit zero.

 

**00d.00h.00m.00s.**

The headstone in front of him said Bang Yongguk.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> is this even considered angst???


End file.
